Simon Stead leaving Coventry for SWINDON was a shock but his move to the Midlands probably didn't turn out as well as he had hoped in 2008.

Stead is very much a confidence rider and working alongside World No.6 Leigh Adams at Swindon can only be of benefit to the Englishman.

The Robins still look top heavy with Adams though and it will be interesting to see what other riders complete their line-up.

IPSWICH have done extremly well retaining the services of Piotr Swiderski, albeit in strange circumstances.

Quite how they have been able to sign him when he is a PETERBOROUGH asset, I don't know.

The Panthers complained Ipswich had signed the Pole without their knowledge, which begs the question what is the use of owning assets if other clubs can just steal them from under your noses?

Ipswich promoter John Louis has apologised to Peterborough boss Rick Frost, but if Swiderski maintains his form of last season in 2009, Panthers fans will want to know how they let their prized asset slip through their fingers and sign for a rival team.

Danny King has also returned to Ipswich from Peterborough after claiming he received no contact from them. Club promoter Mick Bratley begs to differ but there's clearly been a lack of communication somewhere and it could cost the Panthers.

That said, Bratley has done well to retain Kenneth Bjerre and bring back Niels Kristian-Iversen from Wolverhampton.

The two Danes will provide a potent spearhead but they still look fairly weak down the middle order with former Swindon rider Mads Korneilussen and Jesper B Monberg in their ranks even if they win their pointless appeal to track the latter on a 4.51 average.

I wouldn't be surprised if either Peter Karlsson or Mikael Max return to WOLVERHAMPTON.

GP man Fredrik Lindgren has little chance now of getting fixed up elsewhere so I expect him to be their No.1 again.

I also can't wait to see how Tai Woffiden develops next year after his tremendous performances for Team GB in the World Cup.

Last but not least is EASTBOURNE. With Scott Nicholls sitting out the Elite League next season and Richardson off to Lakeside after Bob Dugard told him he had already replaced him after the Brit was quoted as saying he might quit racing in this country, the Eagles may struggle.

Eastbourne have lost a high point-scoring spearhead and with Edward Kennett deciding he wants a season away from the tight turns of Arlington to improve his performances on bigger circuits, Aussie Davey Watt could find it hard going riding at No.1.

Eastbourne promoter Dugard is fuming at Kennett's stance and last week put a £80,000 price tag on his head.

With Elite League promoters supposedly cutting their cloth, quite how Dugard expects a club to come up with that sort of money is beyond me.

What's more Dugard even confirmed to Speedway Star this week that Peterborough had met his revised asking price for Kennett of £45,000.

Can Peterborough really afford that? Particularly when it appears they couldn't match what Ipswich were prepared to pay Swiderski?

Only last season, under the Panthers management, Hans Andersen (pictured above) was forced to leave Peterborough because of unpaid wages and even King said this week the team spent 'a large part of the season wondering when we would get paid'.

With Stead leaving Coventry, I reckon Kennett could well end up being his replacement.

But all in all, despite the loss of GP riders Jason Crump, Scott Nicholls, Andreas Jonsson and Hans Andersen, the Elite League looks like being entertaining next season despite my initial concerns.

And with the Polish Extraleague supposedly in danger of being suspended in 2010 if they fail to cut back next year and the financial difficulties in the Russia league - which could be down to three teams - and Sweden also struggling, it might not be too long before the likes of Crump are back knocking on the Elite League door.

The BSPA could be proven right for ignoring calls for a regular racenight in Britain, for not reducing the amount of meetings in this country and paying over the odds for GP riders as it could end up being the most stable speedway league in the world.

The Elite League promoters will no doubt attempt to try and take credit for this, but let's not be fooled, it's more by luck than good management that it has turned out how it has. The global financial crisis has been very convienent for them.

And while I will never agree with the new ridiculous points scoring system which rewards teams league points for losing (see blog of November 25), I guess it's time to now look forward and hope the speedway on the track does the talking in 2009.